The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko tends to resemble the Roman emperors, the Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church and society and the media Vladimir Legoyda. About this he wrote in his Telegram channel.

«That’s interesting: the date of the so-called unification Cathedral in Ukraine plays not the Patriarch Bartholomew or Michael Antonovich Denisenko (the head of the non-canonical Church structures. — Approx. ed.) < … > or someone else from the heads of the non-canonical formations. But the President of Ukraine. Right pure Emperor Constantine! Only the times are very different. After this it is possible to speak seriously, what is happening is not a political project?» writes Legoyda.

The Emperor Constantine the Great ruled the Roman Empire in the IV century. He officially moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium, which already in his lifetime became known as Constantinople. Constantine became the first Christian ruler of Rome and canonized by the Orthodox Church among the apostles princes.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday declared that «the unification» Church Council held on December 15 in Kyiv. The Church is expected to proclaim the establishment of the Autocephalous local Orthodox Church in Ukraine, approve its Charter and elect the Primate. The project Charter was approved at the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from 27 to 29 November.

The authorities in Kiev and non-canonical Church structure in Ukraine hope till the end of the year to receive the Tomos of autocephaly from Constantinople, but Tomos can get only the Primate of the «United» Church, it needs to select on the «unification Council» of the Orthodox churches in Ukraine, which date is not appointed yet. This canonical UOC said that is not going to participate in this event.

Because of the decision of Constantinople to begin providing non-canonical autocephaly churches in Ukraine, which the Russian Orthodox Church is called the schism, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on 15 October announced the severance of communication with the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the canonical territory of the ROC, including Ukraine and Belarus. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has called canonically void, and saw politics in the abolition of Constantinople by the act of 1686 on the transfer of the Kyiv Metropolitanate to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. Metropolitan Hilarion said that Constantinople lost its right to be called the coordinating centre of Orthodoxy. In the ROC I hope that Constantinople will change the decision to give the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church, and before that he will be in schism.